Sunday, July 15, 2012

Hope Your Weekend Is As Good As Mine...

I have to start off by saying that I have had a magnificent weekend so far and it couldn't have come at a better time with what looms on the horizon for me and my fellow workers the next couple of weeks.

I started the weekend Friday evening by going to a car show on the way to my grandson Zach' second baseball game in the adult leagues presented by the Parks Department in the city he lives in.

The car show is an impromptu gathering at the local WalMart store in that very same city. It apparently occurs every Friday evening in the side parking lot next to the store, weather permitting, from 3:00 o'clock pm to 8:00 o'clock pm. There were a lot of really neat cars available for the viewing. Here are a few.

Wonderful example of a Ford Model A

Rumble Seat

37 Ford pulling a Teardrop

Lunch?

Guessing '53 or '54 Chevy

Work in progress

Clean custom

Beautiful custom

Ah, the days of the Muscle Car

1956 Chevy

Old time hot rod

I always wanted one

Nice Chevy II

Outlandish VW Bug

California Bug

Then I went to the baseball game to watch Zach with his mom and friend. We had a good time watching Zach play. He so enjoys the game and has so much energy that it is hard not to get caught up in it. He joined this adult league team a couple of months ago and up till now it has just been practice. They officially started to play last Thursday. He is the youngest player on his co-ed team. The picture below is his first hit of the season in his first game of the season. Zach went 4 for 4 his first game with three singles, a double, and two runs. The second game wasn't as good but he did get on base a couple of times. Unfortunately his team has lost each time they have played by a huge margin.

On to the big surprise. My son told me several months ago that I was to hold July the 14th open because he had tickets to the Mariner game and he wanted me to go with him. I love baseball, especially at Safeco field in Seattle. The setting is perfect, the stadium is perfect and I always enjoy spending time with my son.

We drove down to the stadium and right up to the parking garage. You have to understand that I usually park several blocks (sometimes miles) away and walk to the park because I hate the high price of parking. Jeff hands the attendant a ticket and he lets us pass with no money exchanged, to a nice parking spot just across from the stadium. As the gates were not open yet and Jeff needed a new hat, we went to the Team Store and browsed around. He found and purchased a new hat and then we started towards the gate.

As we walked down the side of the stadium Jeff motioned for me to get in line with him and we were no where near the gate. He handed me a ticket for the Diamond Club and said happy belated birthday. I cannot express how surprised I was. He said I wouldn't want to sit in the bleachers to watch a game again. He might be right. This place is amazing.

Sponsored by KeyBank the Diamond Club consists of 370 VIP prime seats, a bistro, bar and an executive chef. We walked through the doors and were given a quick orientation. The rules regarding what could leave the Diamond Club and go out to the seats. We started with a wonder buffet created just for the game with wonderful dishes that you would not expect to find at the ball park. We sat and talked for a couple of hours before game time and then went to our seats. As we walked to our seats we passed popcorn, peanuts, cracker jacks and cases of sodas. We grabbed some to take to our seats and went out to find out we were 6 rows behind home plate. We were closer to the batters than the pitcher.

On Deck

Ichio on deck

Is this close or what?

Yep. The Mariner Dugout was that close.

It was an amazing evening. The weather was perfect. The company was perfect. And our star pitch, Felix, pinch a shutout and we won. You wanted for nothing. If you wanted it, you merely had to ask and it was delivered to your seat. I got to tell you, going back to the bleachers might be a little tough.